Book Review: Scandinavia by Franklin D. Scott

longer exist, except in the memories of a relatively small number of aging
people.
As interesting and perhaps as typical as any matter in the book is Dr.
Lindquist's presentation of Lindsborg's role in the history of Bethany:
If faith and dedication have meant much to the men and the women who
have made Bethany a great college, the other people in Lindsborg have
met one challenge after the other when Bethany's very existence has beeen
threatened. All this and more make B e t h a n y i n K a n s a s excellent read­ing.
WALTER JOHNSON
U n i v e r s i t y of W a s h i n g t o n.
Franklin D. Scott. S C A N D I N A V I A . Cambridge: Harvard University Press,
1975. Pp. viii + 330.
In this revised version of an earlier book Professor Scott describes what
he thinks is important about Norden as a whole as well as the individual
countries that he includes under the rubric of "Scandinavia"—Denmark,
Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. To this end he concerns himself
with individual and collective historical experience, with political experi­ments,
social and economic policy changes, and to some extent, artistic
and intellectual expression. This is a big order indeed for a book of
only three hundred pages.
The author starts from the premise that geographic propinquity, a fre­quently
shared historical experience, a value system strained from com­mon
religious and legal concepts, and regular and more intimate com­munication
in more recent times has provided a sense of community to
Norden even when policies themselves were at odds. The institutions and
attitudes thus spawned have resulted in programs, particularly in the
social and economic arena, that vary in degree but hardly in kind. These
planned programs in the area of health, education, child welfare, housing,
employment and unemployment, consumer protection, producer controls,
and retirement benefits have been described by many writers, but the
comparative approach utilized here gives one an opportunity to contem­plate
the whole as well as the parts. The record of achievement is sub­stantial.
Scott tries hard to hint that not all is sweetness and light in the
Scandinavian schemes for general "security," but he is obviously a soft
critic. Any observer of the scene knows that many Scandinavians protest
about an over-protective social and economic system, but the protest
shrinks to a whimper on election days. It hurts so good to pay high taxes—
if you get something for your money!
The picture Scott unfolds is that of a group of small states which, through
public planning and private enterprise, have sought to build the good so­ciety.
This involved the utilization of natural and human resources that
were available. These resources were perhaps richer than the author seems
disposed to admit; what was needed, however, was their planned utiliza­tion
in modernizing the individual social and economic systems, plus a
140
more equitable distribution of the consequent benefits. This has hap­pened,
and the result is that most Scandinavians do have a kind of cradle-to-
grave sense of "security." The social-welfare programs are firmly estab­lished
and even conservatives would change precious little if they were
to score at the polls.
About one-third of the book deals with the status of these countries in
a sometimes hostile world. With considerable skill the author portrays the
dilemma of small powers in the world where Big Powers are the shakers
and movers. He traces the development of Scandinavian "neutrality"
throughout the nineteenth century and then examines it under fire in the
twentieth century. The author refrains from any final judgment, but there
is sufficient evidence to indicate that the ideal of a bloc of northern neu­trals
in a world at war proved to be, both in theory and practice, an ad­mixture
of naiveté and national egoism. One can applaud the hope that
the lion and the lamb would lie down together, but the hazard remained
that the lamb would lie inside the lion.
Scott's treatment of Scandinavia before and during the Second World
War is brief, but invites certain questions. One can accept as a truism
that Denmark's situation was hopeless. She was at the immediate mercy
of her big neighbor to the south. As to Finland, perhaps a bit more flex­ibility
in Helsinki early in November 1939 might have obviated the trauma
of the Winter War and thus the tragedy of the Continuation War. And
what about Norway? Available targets for attack on the west coast were
few, but they were left virtually defenseless by the Nygaardsvold govern­ment
for five years as the international crisis mounted. Then in the early
days of April 1940 there were warnings of German naval activity that
should have alerted the government to the imminent danger. Where was
Foreign Minister Halvdan Koht when the alarm sounded and the lights
went out in Oslo? According to his own memoirs, F o r F r e d o g F r i d o m , he
was on a midnight stroll after a very late dinner in an Oslo suburb. This
brilliant historian, now the architect of Norway's recent foreign policy,
was wandering in the dark as all his plans went up in smoke. Big Powers
can make mistakes and survive; Small Powers are in jeopardy if they err
only once.
Professor Scott summarizes the Scandinavian wartime experience with
sympathy and restraint, and then describes the evident alienation of af­fections
which embittered what had been a northern sense of community.
Some of the wartime wounds healed slowly. It is therefore all the more
remarkable that there has been such substantial northern cooperation in
the last quarter of a century. "Its success," he writes, "rests on voluntarism,
the willingness of all to let each nation follow its own inclinations in for­eign
policy and in any other sphere where independence is felt to be more
important than group action" (p. 275).
The final chapter, "Scandinavian-American Crosscurrents," is a brief
survey designed to assure the reader than the contributions of Scandina­vians
to American life and culture have been great and that this country
in turn has had some influence in shaping the culture and technological
141
development of northern Europe. Fortunately the reader is spared from
any preachments on Danish pornography or the posturing of Olof Palme.
There are a few minor errors in the book, none of them worth men­tioning.
Of more importance is the fact that this book, written by a
knowledgable scholar, is a most worthy introduction to an area and a
community of people with whom we have much in common.
U n i v e r s i t y of N e b r a s ka
ALBIN T. ANDERSON
BOOK NOTES
M A G E . On November 14, 1975, Rochelle Wright defended her disser­tation,
V i l h e l m M o b e r g ' s I m a g e of A m e r i c a and A m e r i c a n s , for the Ph.D.
in Scandinavian at the University of Washington. Dr. Wright is an assist­ant
professor at the University of Illinois (Urbana), where she teaches
Swedish language and Scandinavian literature courses.
* * ®
R E I N T E R P R E T A T I O N . Professor Edward Diener of the University of
Illinois is the author of an interesting new book, R e i n t e r p r e t i n g A m e r i c an
H i s t o r y : A C r i t i c a l L o o k at O u r P a s t (New York: Philosophical Library,
1975. 217 pp. $11.50). Readers should find it a challenging corrective.
* * *
N E W B O O K S O N O L D S W E D E N . LT:s Förlag in Stockholm has long
distinguished itself by its books on traditional Swedish peasant life. Three
of its recent books provide noteworthy examples, which may be of special
interest to some of our readers who know Swedish. K a r l Lärkas D a l a r n a
(1974), edited by Karl Lärka and Sune Jonsson, consists of a remarkable
collection of photographs of rural life in Dalarna as it was still lived in
the 1910s and '20s, taken by Karl Lärka of Mora and with his commentaries.
It is a striking memorial to an ancient, traditional way of life that was only
then beginning to break down under the pressures of modernity. Kyrk¬
båtar o c h kyrkbåtsfärder (1973), by Albert Eskeröd, deals with a char­acteristic
detail of rural life down to the end of the nineteenth century:
the building of "church boats," often of ancient design reminiscent of
vessels from the Viking age, and their use by traditionally organized groups
(kyrkbåtslag) to row, via lakes or fjords, to church on Sundays and holi­days.
"Church boats" are popularly associated primarily with the parishes
around Lake Siljan in Dalarna; Eskeröd makes it clear, however, that
their use was widespread throughout most of Sweden, with its numerous
waterways. Finally, Hantverksporträtt (1975), by Gert Ljungberg and
Inger A: son-Ljungberg, contains portraits—in text and photographs—of
nearly sixty persons throughout Sweden presently practicing handicrafts
traditional to their provinces, such as woodcarving, birch-bark work, root-weaving,
clock-making, pottery, glass-blowing, iron and copper work, and
numerous others. (Only the textile crafts are not represented.) The crafts-
142

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longer exist, except in the memories of a relatively small number of aging
people.
As interesting and perhaps as typical as any matter in the book is Dr.
Lindquist's presentation of Lindsborg's role in the history of Bethany:
If faith and dedication have meant much to the men and the women who
have made Bethany a great college, the other people in Lindsborg have
met one challenge after the other when Bethany's very existence has beeen
threatened. All this and more make B e t h a n y i n K a n s a s excellent read­ing.
WALTER JOHNSON
U n i v e r s i t y of W a s h i n g t o n.
Franklin D. Scott. S C A N D I N A V I A . Cambridge: Harvard University Press,
1975. Pp. viii + 330.
In this revised version of an earlier book Professor Scott describes what
he thinks is important about Norden as a whole as well as the individual
countries that he includes under the rubric of "Scandinavia"—Denmark,
Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. To this end he concerns himself
with individual and collective historical experience, with political experi­ments,
social and economic policy changes, and to some extent, artistic
and intellectual expression. This is a big order indeed for a book of
only three hundred pages.
The author starts from the premise that geographic propinquity, a fre­quently
shared historical experience, a value system strained from com­mon
religious and legal concepts, and regular and more intimate com­munication
in more recent times has provided a sense of community to
Norden even when policies themselves were at odds. The institutions and
attitudes thus spawned have resulted in programs, particularly in the
social and economic arena, that vary in degree but hardly in kind. These
planned programs in the area of health, education, child welfare, housing,
employment and unemployment, consumer protection, producer controls,
and retirement benefits have been described by many writers, but the
comparative approach utilized here gives one an opportunity to contem­plate
the whole as well as the parts. The record of achievement is sub­stantial.
Scott tries hard to hint that not all is sweetness and light in the
Scandinavian schemes for general "security," but he is obviously a soft
critic. Any observer of the scene knows that many Scandinavians protest
about an over-protective social and economic system, but the protest
shrinks to a whimper on election days. It hurts so good to pay high taxes—
if you get something for your money!
The picture Scott unfolds is that of a group of small states which, through
public planning and private enterprise, have sought to build the good so­ciety.
This involved the utilization of natural and human resources that
were available. These resources were perhaps richer than the author seems
disposed to admit; what was needed, however, was their planned utiliza­tion
in modernizing the individual social and economic systems, plus a
140
more equitable distribution of the consequent benefits. This has hap­pened,
and the result is that most Scandinavians do have a kind of cradle-to-
grave sense of "security." The social-welfare programs are firmly estab­lished
and even conservatives would change precious little if they were
to score at the polls.
About one-third of the book deals with the status of these countries in
a sometimes hostile world. With considerable skill the author portrays the
dilemma of small powers in the world where Big Powers are the shakers
and movers. He traces the development of Scandinavian "neutrality"
throughout the nineteenth century and then examines it under fire in the
twentieth century. The author refrains from any final judgment, but there
is sufficient evidence to indicate that the ideal of a bloc of northern neu­trals
in a world at war proved to be, both in theory and practice, an ad­mixture
of naiveté and national egoism. One can applaud the hope that
the lion and the lamb would lie down together, but the hazard remained
that the lamb would lie inside the lion.
Scott's treatment of Scandinavia before and during the Second World
War is brief, but invites certain questions. One can accept as a truism
that Denmark's situation was hopeless. She was at the immediate mercy
of her big neighbor to the south. As to Finland, perhaps a bit more flex­ibility
in Helsinki early in November 1939 might have obviated the trauma
of the Winter War and thus the tragedy of the Continuation War. And
what about Norway? Available targets for attack on the west coast were
few, but they were left virtually defenseless by the Nygaardsvold govern­ment
for five years as the international crisis mounted. Then in the early
days of April 1940 there were warnings of German naval activity that
should have alerted the government to the imminent danger. Where was
Foreign Minister Halvdan Koht when the alarm sounded and the lights
went out in Oslo? According to his own memoirs, F o r F r e d o g F r i d o m , he
was on a midnight stroll after a very late dinner in an Oslo suburb. This
brilliant historian, now the architect of Norway's recent foreign policy,
was wandering in the dark as all his plans went up in smoke. Big Powers
can make mistakes and survive; Small Powers are in jeopardy if they err
only once.
Professor Scott summarizes the Scandinavian wartime experience with
sympathy and restraint, and then describes the evident alienation of af­fections
which embittered what had been a northern sense of community.
Some of the wartime wounds healed slowly. It is therefore all the more
remarkable that there has been such substantial northern cooperation in
the last quarter of a century. "Its success," he writes, "rests on voluntarism,
the willingness of all to let each nation follow its own inclinations in for­eign
policy and in any other sphere where independence is felt to be more
important than group action" (p. 275).
The final chapter, "Scandinavian-American Crosscurrents," is a brief
survey designed to assure the reader than the contributions of Scandina­vians
to American life and culture have been great and that this country
in turn has had some influence in shaping the culture and technological
141
development of northern Europe. Fortunately the reader is spared from
any preachments on Danish pornography or the posturing of Olof Palme.
There are a few minor errors in the book, none of them worth men­tioning.
Of more importance is the fact that this book, written by a
knowledgable scholar, is a most worthy introduction to an area and a
community of people with whom we have much in common.
U n i v e r s i t y of N e b r a s ka
ALBIN T. ANDERSON
BOOK NOTES
M A G E . On November 14, 1975, Rochelle Wright defended her disser­tation,
V i l h e l m M o b e r g ' s I m a g e of A m e r i c a and A m e r i c a n s , for the Ph.D.
in Scandinavian at the University of Washington. Dr. Wright is an assist­ant
professor at the University of Illinois (Urbana), where she teaches
Swedish language and Scandinavian literature courses.
* * ®
R E I N T E R P R E T A T I O N . Professor Edward Diener of the University of
Illinois is the author of an interesting new book, R e i n t e r p r e t i n g A m e r i c an
H i s t o r y : A C r i t i c a l L o o k at O u r P a s t (New York: Philosophical Library,
1975. 217 pp. $11.50). Readers should find it a challenging corrective.
* * *
N E W B O O K S O N O L D S W E D E N . LT:s Förlag in Stockholm has long
distinguished itself by its books on traditional Swedish peasant life. Three
of its recent books provide noteworthy examples, which may be of special
interest to some of our readers who know Swedish. K a r l Lärkas D a l a r n a
(1974), edited by Karl Lärka and Sune Jonsson, consists of a remarkable
collection of photographs of rural life in Dalarna as it was still lived in
the 1910s and '20s, taken by Karl Lärka of Mora and with his commentaries.
It is a striking memorial to an ancient, traditional way of life that was only
then beginning to break down under the pressures of modernity. Kyrk¬
båtar o c h kyrkbåtsfärder (1973), by Albert Eskeröd, deals with a char­acteristic
detail of rural life down to the end of the nineteenth century:
the building of "church boats," often of ancient design reminiscent of
vessels from the Viking age, and their use by traditionally organized groups
(kyrkbåtslag) to row, via lakes or fjords, to church on Sundays and holi­days.
"Church boats" are popularly associated primarily with the parishes
around Lake Siljan in Dalarna; Eskeröd makes it clear, however, that
their use was widespread throughout most of Sweden, with its numerous
waterways. Finally, Hantverksporträtt (1975), by Gert Ljungberg and
Inger A: son-Ljungberg, contains portraits—in text and photographs—of
nearly sixty persons throughout Sweden presently practicing handicrafts
traditional to their provinces, such as woodcarving, birch-bark work, root-weaving,
clock-making, pottery, glass-blowing, iron and copper work, and
numerous others. (Only the textile crafts are not represented.) The crafts-
142